Baby Business

Joanna Jensen, founder of children’s skincare brand, Childs Farm, and mum of two talks business.

Joanna Jensen always had an interest in natural remedies and treatments, and with the birth of her two daughters, Mimi and Bella, she wanted to offer them washing products that suited their young, delicate and sensitive skin without irritating it.

So began the Child’s Farm journey.

Q/ What was the inspiration behind Child’s Farm?

A/ I suffered from skin allergies as a child, and I also struggled to find products for my two daughters who both have sensitive skin. What struck me was that natural products for kids just didn’t look very inviting; they tended to have medicinal looking packaging and uninviting smells.

I struggled to find any products that would look after the whole family and be a pleasure to use, so I created Childs Farm as a solution.

Q/ Tell us about your career background…

A/ I left school at 18 and began a career in property in London, and set up my first business as an Interior Design Consultant for Hong Kong and Singaporean property investors. I then moved into banking, travelling the world before founding Childs Farm in 2010.

Q/ How did Childs Farm start and how did you initially get it off the kitchen table?

A/ I already had some background knowledge of natural remedies and started the business at my kitchen table. The feedback I received was not only that the range smelled fantastic, performed brilliantly and that children loved using it, but also that it worked wonders on sensitive and eczema-prone skin.

This unexpected outcome was the springboard for a series of clinical and user trials which we still use today. I then began to sell the range online and to independents, before John Lewis and Ocado in 2012, and Boots and Waitrose following in 2014.

Today we are in every major national retailer and are the fastest growing baby and child toiletries brand in the UK. 150,000 bottles of our hero product, the baby moisturiser, are sold every week
in UK – that’s one every 14 seconds!

Q/ What makes Childs Farm different from other skincare brands?

A/ We go the extra mile to give parents the very best products for young skin. All of our products undergo extensive clinical safety testing and controlled, independent home user trials on newborns and children with medically diagnosed eczema to ensure they can be used safely on babies and children with all skin types.

Childs Farm is one of the very few baby and child ranges to do this, and we actually go above and beyond the rigorous EU guidelines and regulations for the
cosmetics and toiletries industry.

Childs Farm is also the only independently owned company in its category of baby and children’s
toiletries.

We’re like a big family and every element of the business has retained that personal touch, even as we’ve grown.

Q/ What advice would you give to other parents trying to get fledgling ideas/products/companies off the ground?

A/It’s important to believe in yourself, your product and your success.

I always remind myself of the Walt Disney quote, “If you can dream it, you can do it”.

Q/ What are the biggest challenges of being a working parent?

A/ I work very long days but I turn the laptop off as soon as the girls return from school each day – and then regularly work into the small hours once they are in bed! Childs Farm started off as a good idea that I couldn’t quite leave alone and it’s continued in that same way.

The brand has grown in ways that I could never have anticipated even in my wildest dreams; a genuine belief in what we do and constant challenges keep me going!

Q/ And what are the best bits?

A/ The positive feedback that we get is completely overwhelming.

We receive hundreds of pictures, drawings, little poems and notes from our users and their little ones which are displayed all around the office to make sure the whole team is aware of the impact of the work they are doing. We are all so thrilled with the feedback – and also very humbled – that something that was a solution for my girls’ skin, has helped so many millions more with sensitive skin.

Q/ Do your girls get involved?

A/ Mimi and Bella have been very involved with the creation of Childs Farm andlove trying out the products! Their faces appear as cartoons on the bottles of many of our products. They are both my biggest fans and harshest critics!

To find out more, click here.